23.6.10

Revisions, rewrites, and other things...

I am nit-picky about everything, which is why I decided to start from scratch.

No, I won't throw all of what I had written so far, because getting rid of almost 40,000 words is just insane. That is like....I can't even think of a witty comparison at the moment, but that's just insane, and I would be insane if I do that.

There are a lot of ideas floating around in my head. I know where I want the story to go. I know where I want my characters to go, I just don't know how to start everything off, because as I have mentioned millions of times, I am horrible at writing beginnings.

That has to be my weak spot when it comes to writing. I am trying to remedy my problem by reading a lot of books, seeing how other writers start off their books, take notes. Write down what I like about the beginning, and try to see if I can use the same techniques that they used to to construct my beginning.

So, yeah, writing a book is not easy. It can be fun and rewarding at times but there are moments when you feel like ripping your hair out. That is how I felt when I was reading over what I have written so far of Lost & Found.

I am not going to lie to you. There are a lot of plot holes, a lot of unnecessary scenes, words etc. The characters don't have enough chemistry, and really everything is just all over the place. Basically it's going to take me a really really really long time to finish editing and writing and polishing up this novel. But it is worth it because I love the characters, I love their motives, I love their relationships, even if they are a bit rocky.

I love that this is the first novel that I have written in years. Well, the first novel that I have written that has more than 20k. Right now I think I'm up to 40k. Give or take a couple thousand. But anyways, this book is worth it.

I just need to really sit down and think things through. I need to focus on strengthening the plot, because this is a very plot-driven novel.

So I have a lot on my plate.

I'm going to start taking notes tonight, and hopefully I can work out trying to write yet another beginning.

In the mean time, I have other ideas. Ones that may remain just that: Ideas.

But I really want to write a murder mystery.

I can't tell you how much I loved Nancy Drew when I was younger. I never really read the books, but I have almost all of the computer games, and it was fun solving mysteries, finding the bad guy etc. I even have a Nancy Drew fanfic saved on my computer, but that is a story for another day.

Of course this said murder mystery would be YA and of course it will have romance in it, because I don't write stories without love.

It needs to be thought about a little more, but I will keep you guys updated if I decide to write this idea.

We shall see.

So, where are you at with your writing? Is there anything that you learned about your novel when you read it over?

1 comments:

I have been on this very long writing sabbatical. I should feel bad for not writing, its been months! But I don't really, lol. I've been reading a lot of amazing books and just soaking it all in. I guess I'll write when I'm comfortable with my prose, character and plot again. -amna

There are so many well-intentioned lies I could tell, but the truth is I am a magician in my twenties that eats words for breakfast. Though I think non-magic users would call me a writer. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from The Pennsylvania State University and am currently working towards my dream of becoming an attorney. I love to read YA/NA books and I occasionally write in both of those genres. My current work in progress is Unfair, a multicultural YA Epic Fantasy retelling of Snow White that isn't told from the POV of Snow White. If you want to know more, please visit my About Me page.